FINALLY, after two days, we landed at Apremont-en-Argonne.
For the time being we were quartered in a large farm to the northeast
of Apremont. We found ourselves quite close to the Argonnes. All
the soldiers whom we met and who had been there for some time
told us of uninterrupted daily fighting in those woods.

Our first task was to construct underground shelters that should
serve as living rooms. We commenced work at about a mile and three
quarters behind the front, but had to move on after some shells
had destroyed our work again. We then constructed, about a mile
and a quarter behind the front, a camp consisting of thirty-five
underground shelters.

A hole is dug, some five yards square and two yards deep. Short
tree trunks are laid across it, and about two yards of earth piled
upon them. We had no straw, so we had to sleep on the bare ground
for a while. Rifle bullets coming from the direction of the front
kept flying above our heads and struck the trees. We were attached
to the various companies of infantry; I myself was with the tenth
company of the infantry regiment No. 67.

The soil had been completely ploughed up by continued use,
and the paths and roads had been covered with sticks and tree
trunks so that they could be used by men and wagons. After an
arduous march we reached the foremost position. It was no easy
task to find one's way in that maze of trenches. The water was
more than a foot deep in those trenches. At last we arrived at
the most advanced position and reported to the captain of the
tenth company of the 67th regiment of infantry. Of course, the
conditions obtaining there were quite unknown to us, but the men
of the infantry soon explained things to us as far as they could.
After two or three days we were already quite familiar with our
surroundings, and our many-sided duty began.

The French lay only some ten yards away from us. The second
day we were engaged in a fight with hand grenades. In that fight
Sapper Beschtel from Saarbrucken was killed. He was our first
casualty in the Argonnes, but many were to follow him in the time
that followed. In the rear trenches we had established an engineering
depot. There 25 men made nothing but hand grenades. Thus we soon
had made ourselves at home, and were ready for all emergencies.

At the camp we were divided in various sections. That division
in various sections gave us an idea of the endless ways and means
employed in our new position. There were mining, sapping, hand
grenade sections, sections for mine throwing and illuminating
pistols. Others again constructed wire entanglements, chevaux-de-frise,
or projectiles for the primitive mine throwers. At one time one
worked in one section then again in another. The forest country
was very difficult. The thick, tangled underwood formed by itself
an almost insuperable obstacle. All the trees were shot down up
to the firing level. Cut off clean by the machine-guns they lay
in all directions on the ground, forming a natural barricade.

The infantrymen had told us about the difficulties under which
fighting was carried on uninterruptedly. Not a day passed without
casualties. Firing went on without a pause. The men had never
experienced an interval in the firing. We soon were to get an
idea of that mass murder, that systematic slaughter. The largest
part of our company was turned into a mine laying section, and
we began to mine our most advanced trench. For a distance of some
500 yards, a yard apart, we dug in boxes of dynamite, each weighing
50 pounds. Each of those mines was provided with a fuse and all
were connected so that all the mines could be exploded at the
same instant. The mines were then covered with soil again and
the connecting wires taken some hundred yards to the rear.

At that time the French were making attacks every few days.
We were told to abandon the foremost trench should an attack be
made. The mines had been laid two days when the expected attack
occurred, and without offering any great resistance we retreated
to the second trench. The French occupied the captured trench
without knowing that several thousands of pounds of explosives
lay buried under their feet. So as to cause our opponents to bring
as many troops as possible into the occupied trench we pretended
to make counter attacks. As a matter of fact the French trench
was soon closely manned by French soldiers who tried to retain
it.

But that very moment our mines were exploded. There was a mighty
bang, and several hundreds of Frenchmen were literally torn to
pieces and blown up into the air. It all happened in a moment.
Parts of human bodies spread over a large stretch of ground, and
the arms, legs, and rags of uniforms hanging in the trees, were
the only signs of a well planned mass murder. In view of that
catastrophe all we had experienced before seemed to us to be child's
play. That "heroic deed" was celebrated by a lusty hurrah.

For some days one had gained a little advantage, only to lose
it again soon. In order to make advances the most diverse methods
were used, as was said before. The mining section would cut a
subterranean passage up to the enemy's position. The passage would
branch out to the right and left a yard or so before the position
of our opponent, and run parallel with it. The work takes of course
weeks to accomplish, for the whole of the loosened soil must be
taken to the rear on small mining wagons. Naturally, the soil
taken out must not be heaped in one place, for if that were done
the enemy would get wind of our intentions and would spoil everything
by countermining. As soon as work is advanced far enough the whole
passage running parallel with the enemy's trench is provided with
explosives and dammed up. When the mine is exploded the whole
of the enemy's trench is covered by the soil that is thrown up,
burying many soldiers alive. Usually such an explosion is followed
by an assault. The sapping section, on the other hand, have to
dig open trenches running towards the enemy's position. These
are connected by transversal trenches, the purpose being to get
one's own position always closer to the enemy's. As soon as one's
position has approached near enough to make it possible to throw
hand grenades into the enemy's position the hand grenade sections
have to take up their places and bombard the enemy's trenches
continually with hand grenades, day and night.

Some few hundred yards to the rear are the heavy modern mine
throwers firing a projectile weighing 140 pounds. Those projectiles,
which look like sugar loaves, fly cumbrously over to the enemy
where they do great damage. The trade of war must not stop at
night; so the darkness is made bright by means of illuminating
rockets. The illuminating cartridge is fired from a pistol, and
for a second all is bright as day. As all that kind of work was
done by sappers the French hated the sappers especially, and French
prisoners often told us that German prisoners with white buttons
and black ribbons on their caps (sappers) would be treated without
any mercy. Warned by the statements of those prisoners nearly
all provided themselves with infantry uniforms. We knew that we
had gradually become some specialty in the trenches.

If the infantry were molested somewhere by the enemy's hand
grenades they used to come running up to us and begged us to go
and meet the attack. Each of us received a cigar to light the
hand grenades, and then we were off. Ten or twenty of us rained
hand grenades on the enemy's trench for hours until one's arm
got too stiff with throwing.

Thus the slaughter continued, day after day, night after night.
We had 48 hours in the trenches and 12 hours' sleep. It was found
impossible to divide the time differently, for we were too few.
The whole of the forest had been shot and torn to tatters. The
artillery was everywhere and kept the villages behind the enemy's
position under fire. Once one of the many batteries which we always
passed on our way from camp to the front was just firing when
we came by. I interrogated one of the sighting gunners what their
target might be. "Some village or other," the gunner
replied. The representative of the leader of the battery, a lieutenant-colonel,
was present. One of my mates inquired whether women and children
might not be in the villages.

"That's neither here nor there," said the lieutenant-colonel,
"the women and children are French, too, so what's the harm
done? Even their litter must be annihilated so as to knock out
of that nation for a hundred years any idea of war."

If that "gentleman" thought to win applause he was
mistaken. We went our way, leaving him to his "enjoyment."

On that day an assault on the enemy's position had been ordered,
and we had to be in our places at seven o'clock in the morning.
The 67th regiment was to attack punctually at half past eight,
the sappers taking the lead. The latter had been provided with
hand grenades for that purpose. We were only some twenty yards
away from the enemy. Those attacks, which were repeated every
week, were prepared by artillery fire half an hour before the
assault began. The artillery had to calculate their fire very
carefully, because the distance between the trench and that of
the enemy was very small. That distance varied from three to a
hundred yards, it was nowhere more than that. At our place it
was twenty yards. Punctually at eight o'clock the artillery began
to thunder forth. The first three shots struck our own trench,
but those following squarely hit the mark, i.e., the French trench.
The artillery had got the exact range and then the volleys of
whole batteries began to scream above our heads. Every time the
enemy's trench or the roads leading to it were hit with wonderful
accuracy. One could hear the wounded cry, a sign that many a one
had already been crippled. An artillery officer made observations
in the first trench and directed the fire by telephone.

The artillery became silent exactly at half past eight, and
we passed to the assault. But the 11th company of regiment No.
67, of which I spoke before, found itself in a such a violent
machine-gun fire that eighteen men had been killed a few paces
from our trench. The dead and wounded had got entangled in the
wild jumble of the trees and branches encumbering the ground.
Whoever could run tried to reach the enemy's trench as quickly
as possible. Some of the enemy defended themselves desperately
in their trench, which was filled with mud and water, and violent
hand to hand fighting ensued. We stood in the water up to our
knees, killing the rest of our opponents. Seriously wounded men
were lying flat in the mud with only their mouths and noses showing
above the water. But what did we care! They were stamped deeper
in the mud, for we could not see where we were stepping; and so
we rolled up the whole trench. Thereupon the conquered position
was fortified as well as it could be done in all haste. Again
we had won a few yards of the Argonnes at the price of many lives.
That trench had changed its owners innumerable times before, a
matter of course in the Argonnes, and we awaited the usual counter
attack.

Presently the "mules" began to get active. "Mules"
are the guns of the French mountain artillery. As those guns are
drawn by mules, the soldier in the Argonnes calls them "mules"
for short. They are very light guns with a flat trajectory, and
are fired from a distance of only 50-100 yards behind the French
front. The shells of those guns whistled above our heads. Cutting
their way through the branches they fly along with lightning rapidity
to explode in or above some trench. In consequence of the rapid
flight and the short distance the noise of the firing and the
explosion almost unite in a single bang. Those "mules"
are much feared by the German soldiers, because those guns are
active day and night. Thus day by day we lived through the same
misery.

.

XIX

CHRISTMAS IN THE TRENCHES

WINTER had arrived and it was icy cold. The trenches, all of
which had underground water, had been turned into mere mud holes.
The cold at night was intense, and we had to do 48 hours' work
with 12 hours' sleep. Every week we had to make an attack the
result of which was in no proportion to the immense losses. During
the entire four months that I was in the Argonnes we had a gain
of terrain some 400 yards deep. The following fact will show the
high price that was paid in human life for that little piece of
France. All the regiments (some of these were the infantry regiments
Nos. 145, 67, 173, and the Hirschberg sharpshooting battalion
No. 5) had their own cemetery. When we were relieved in the Argonnes
there were more dead in our cemetery than our regiment counted
men. The 67th regiment had buried more than 2000 men in its cemetery,
all of whom, with the exception of a few sappers, had belonged
to regiment No. 67. Not a day passed without the loss of human
lives, and on a "storming day" death had an extraordinarily
rich harvest. Each day had its victims, sometimes more, sometimes
fewer. It must appear quite natural that under such conditions
the soldiers were not in the best of moods. The men were all completely
stupefied. Just as they formerly went to work regularly to feed
the wife and children they now went to the trenches in just the
same regular way. That business of slaughtering and working had
become an every day affair. When they conversed it was always
the army leaders, the Crown Prince and Lieutenant-General von
Mudra, the general in command of the 16th Army Corps, that were
most criticized..

The troops in the Argonnes belonged to the 16th Army Corps,
to the 33rd and 34th division of infantry. Neither of the two
leaders, neither the Crown Prince nor von Mudra, have I ever seen
in the trenches. The staff of the Crown Prince had among its members
the old General-Fieldmarshal Count von Haeseler, the former commander
of the 16th Army Corps, a man who in times of peace was already
known as a relentless slave driver. The "triplets,"
as we called the trio, the Crown Prince, von Mudra, and Count
von Haeseler, were more hated by most of the soldiers than the
Frenchman who was out with his gun to take our miserable life.

Many miles behind the front the scion of the Hohenzollerns
found no difficulty to spout his "knock them hard!"
and, at the price of thousands of human lives, to make himself
popular with the patriots at home who were sitting there behind
the snug stove or at the beer table complaining that we did not
advance fast enough. Von Mudra got the order "Pour le mérite";
they did not think of his soldiers who had not seen a bed, nor
taken off their trousers or boots for months; these were provided
with food and shells, and were almost being eaten up by vermin,

That we were covered with body lice was not to be wondered
at, for we had scarcely enough water for drinking purposes, and
could not think of having a wash. We had worn our clothes for
months without changing them; the hair on our heads and our beards
had grown to great length. When we had some hours in which to
rest, the lice would not let us sleep.

The air in the shelters was downright pestiferous, and to that
foul stench of perspiration and putrefaction was added the plague
of lice. At times one was sitting up for hours and could not sleep,
though one was dead tired. One could catch lice, and the more
one caught the worse they got. We were urgently in want of sleep,
but it was impossible to close the eyes on account of the vermin.
We led a loathsome, pitiful life, and at times we said to one
another that nobody at home even suspected the condition we were
in. We often told one another that if later on we should relate
to our families the facts as they really were they would not believe
them. Many soldiers tried to put our daily experience in verse.
There were many of such jingles illustrating our barbarous handicraft.

It was in the month of December and the weather was extremely
cold. At times we often stood in the trenches with the mud running
into our trousers' pockets. In those icy cold nights we used to
sit in the trenches almost frozen to a lump of ice, and when utter
exhaustion sometimes vanquished us and put us to sleep we found
our boots frozen to the ground on waking up. Quite a number of
soldiers suffered from frost-bitten limbs; it was mostly their
toes that were frost-bitten. They had to be taken to the hospital.
The soldiers on duty fired incessantly so as to keep their fingers
warm.

Not all the soldiers are as a rule kept ready to give battle.
If no attack is expected or intended, only sentries occupy the
trench. About three yards apart a man is posted behind his protective
shield of steel. Nevertheless all the men are in the trench. The
sentries keep their section under a continual fire, especially
when it is cold and dark. The fingers get warm when one pulls
the trigger. Of course, one cannot aim in the darkness, and the
shots are fired at random. The sentry sweeps his section so that
no hostile patrol can approach, for he is never safe in that thicket.
Thus it happens that the firing is generally more violent at night
than at day; but there is never an interval. The rifles are fired
continually; the bullets keep whistling above our trench and patter
against the branches. The mines, too, come flying over at night,
dropping at a high angle. Everybody knows the scarcely audible
thud, and knows at once that it is a mine without seeing anything.
He warns the others by calling out, "Mine coming!" and
everybody looks in the darkness for the "glow-worm,"
i.e., the burning fuse of the mine. The glowing fuse betrays the
direction of the mine, and there are always a few short seconds
left to get round some corner. Thee same is the case with the
hand grenades. They, too, betray the line of their flight at night
by their burning fuse. If they do not happen to arrive in too
great numbers one mostly succeeds in getting out of their way.
In daylight that is not so hard because one can overlook everything.
It often happens that one cannot save oneself in time from the
approaching hand grenade. In that case there is only one alternative---either
to remain alive or be torn to atoms. Should a hand grenade suddenly
fall before one's feet one picks it up without hesitation as swiftly
as possible and throws it away, if possible back into the enemy's
trench. Often, however, the fuse is of such a length that the
grenade does not even explode after reaching the enemy's trench
again, and the Frenchman throws it back again with fabulous celerity.
In order to avoid the danger of having a grenade returned the
fuse is made as short as possible, and yet a grenade will come
back now and again in spite of all. To return a grenade is of
course dangerous work, but a man has no great choice; if he leaves
the grenade where it drops he is lost, as he cannot run away;
and he knows he will be crushed to atoms, and thus his only chance
is to pick up the grenade and throw it away even at the risk of
having the bomb explode in his hand. I know of hand grenades thrown
by the French that flew hither and thither several times. One
was thrown by the French and immediately returned; it came back
again in an instant, and again we threw it over to them; it did
not reach the enemy's trench that time, but exploded in the air.

Though in general the infantry bullets cannot do much damage
while one is in the trench it happens daily that men are killed
by ricochet bullets. The thousands of bullets that cut through
the air every minute all pass above our heads. But some strike
a tree or branch and glance off. If in that case they hit a man
in the trench they cause terrible injuries, because they do not
strike with their heads but lengthwise. Whenever we heard of dum-dum
bullets we thought of those ricochet bullets, though we did not
doubt that there were dum-dum bullets in existence. I doubt, however,
if dum-dum bullets are manufactured in factories, for the following
reasons: first, because a dum-dum bullet can easily damage the
barrel of a rifle and make it useless; secondly, because the average
soldier would refuse to carry such ammunition, for if a man is
captured and such bullets are found on him, the enemy in whose
power he is would punish him by the laws of war as pitilessly
as such an inhuman practice deserves to be punished. Generally,
of course, a soldier only executes his orders.

However, there exist dum-dum bullets, as I mentioned before.
They are manufactured by the soldiers themselves. If the point
is filed or cut off a German infantry bullet, so that the nickel
case is cut through and the lead core is laid bare, the bullet
explodes when striking or penetrating an object. Should a man
be hit in the upper arm by such a projectile the latter, by its
explosive force, can mangle the arm to such an extent that it
only hangs by a piece of skin.

Christmas came along, and we still found ourselves at the same
place without any hope of a change. We received all kinds of gifts
from our relations at home and other people. We were at last able
to change our underwear which we had worn for months.

Christmas in the trenches! It was bitterly cold. We had procured
a pine tree, for there were no fir trees to be had. We had decorated
the tree with candles and cookies, and had imitated the snow with
wadding.

Christmas trees were burning everywhere in the trenches, and
at midnight all the trees were lifted on to the parapet with their
burning candles, and along the whole line German soldiers began
to sing Christmas songs in chorus. "0, thou blissful, 0,
thou joyous, mercy bringing Christmas time!" Hundreds of
men were singing the song in that fearful wood. Not a shot was
fired; the French had ceased firing along the whole line. That
night I was with a company that was only five paces away from
the enemy. The Christmas candles were burning brightly, and were
renewed again and again. For the first time we heard no shots.

From everywhere, throughout the forest, one could hear powerful
carols come floating over "Peace on earth---"

The French left their trenches and stood on the parapet without
any fear. There they stood, quite overpowered by emotion, and
all of them with cap in hand. We, too, had issued from our trenches.
We exchanged gifts with the French---chocolate, cigarettes, etc.
They were all laughing, and so were we; why, we did not know.
Then everybody went back to his trench, and incessantly the carol
resounded, ever more solemnly, ever more longingly---"O,
thou blissful---"

All around silence reigned; even the murdered trees seemed
to listen; the charm continued, and one scarcely dared to speak.
Why could it not always be as peaceful? We thought and thought,
we were as dreamers, and had forgotten everything about us. Suddenly
a shot rang out; then another one was fired somewhere. The spell
was broken. All rushed to their rifles. A rolling fire. Our Christmas
was over.

We took up again our old existence. A young infantryman stood
next to me. He tried to get out of the trench. I told him: "Stay
here; the French will shoot you to pieces." "I left
a box of cigars up there, and must have it back." Another
one told him to wait till things quieted down somewhat. "They
won't hit me; I have been here three months, and they never caught
me yet." " As you wish; go ahead! "

Scarcely had he put his head above the parapet when he tumbled
back. Part of his brains was sticking to my belt. His cap flew
high up into the air. His skull was shattered. He was dead on
the spot. His trials were over. The cigars were later on fetched
by another man.

On the following Christmas day an army order was read out.
We were forbidden to wear or have in our possession things of
French origin; for every soldier who was found in possession of
such things would be put before a court-martial as a marauder
by the French if they captured him. We were forbidden to use objects
captured from the French, and we were especially forbidden to
make use of woolen blankets, because the French were infected
with scabies. Scabies is an itching skin disease, which it takes
at least a week to cure. But the order had a contrary effect.
If one was the owner of such an " itch-blanket " one
had a chance of getting into the hospital for some days. The illness
was not of a serious nature, and one was at least safe from bullets
for a few days. Every day soldiers were sent to the hospital,
and we, too, were watching for a chance to grab such a French
blanket. What did a man care, if he could only get out of that
hell!

.

XX

THE "ITCH"---A SAVIOR

ON January 5th the Germans attacked along the whole forest
front, and took more than 1800 prisoners. We alone had captured
700 men of the French infantry regiment No. 120. The hand to hand
fighting lasted till six o'clock at night. On that day I, together
with another sapper, got into a trench section that was still
being defended by eight Frenchmen. We could not back out, so we
had to take up the unequal struggle. Fortunately we were well
provided with hand grenades. We cut the fuses so short that they
exploded at the earliest moment. I threw one in the midst of the
eight Frenchmen. They had scarcely escaped the first one, when
the second arrived into which they ran. We utilized their momentary
confusion by throwing five more in quick succession. We had reduced
our opponents to four. Then we opened a rifle fire, creeping closer
and closer up to them. Their bullets kept whistling above our
heads. One of the Frenchmen was shot in the mouth; three more
were left. These turned to flee. In such moments one is seized
with an indescribable rage and forgets all about the danger that
surrounds one. We had come quite near to them, when the last one
stumbled and fell forward on his face. In a trice I was on him;
he fought desperately with his fists; my mate was following the
other two. I kept on wrestling with my opponent. He was bleeding
from his mouth; I had knocked out some of his teeth. Then he surrendered
and raised his hands. I let go and then had a good look at him.
He was some 35 years old, about ten years older than myself. I
now felt sorry for him. He pointed to his wedding ring, talking
to me all the while. I understood what he wanted---he wanted to
be kept alive. He handed me his bottle, inviting me to drink wine.
He cried; maybe he thought of his wife and children. I pressed
his hand, and he showed me his bleeding teeth. "You are a
silly fellow," I told him; "you have been lucky. The
few missing teeth don't matter. For you the slaughtering is finished;
come along!" I was glad I had not killed him, and took him
along myself so as to protect him from being ill-treated. When
I handed him over he pressed my hand thankfully and laughed; he
was happy to be safe. However had the time he might have as prisoner
he would be better off at any rate than in the trenches. At least
he had a chance of getting home again.

In the evening we took some of the forbidden blankets, hundreds
of which we had captured that day. Ten of us were lying in a shelter,
all provided with blankets. Everybody wanted to get the "itch,"
however strange that may sound. We undressed and rolled ourselves
in those blankets. Twenty-four hours later little red pimples
showed themselves all over the body, and twelve men reported sick.
The blankets were used in the whole company, but all of them had
not the desired effect. The doctor sent nine of us to the hospital
at Montmédy, and that very evening we left the camp in
high glee. The railroad depot at Apremont had been badly shelled;
the next station was Chatel. Both places are a little more than
three miles behind the front, At Apremont the prisoners were divided
into sections. Some of the prisoners had their homes at Apremont.
Their families were still occupying their houses, and the prisoners
asked to be allowed to pay them a visit. I chanced to observe
one of those meetings at Apremont. Two men of the landsturm led
one of the prisoners to the house which he pointed out to them
as his own. The young wife of the prisoner was sitting in the
kitchen with her three children. We followed the men into the
house. The woman became as white as a sheet when she beheld her
husband suddenly. They rushed to meet each other and fell into
each other's arms. We went out, for we felt that we were not wanted.
The wife had not been able to get the slightest signs from her
husband for the last five months, for the German forces had been
between her and him. He, on the other hand, had been in the trench
for months knowing that his wife and children must be there, on
the other side, very near, yet not to be reached. He did not know
whether they were alive or dead. He heard the French shells scream
above his head. Would they hit Apremont? He wondered whether it
was his own house that had been set alight by a shell and was
reddening the sky at night. He did not know. The uncertainty tortured
him, and life became hell. Now he was at home, though only for
a few hours. He had to leave again a prisoner; but now he could
send a letter to his wife by the field post. He had to take leave.
She had nothing she could give him---no underwear, no food, absolutely
nothing. She had lost all and had to rely on the charity of the
soldiers. She handed him her last money, but he returned it. We
could not understand what they told each other. She took the money
back; it was German money, five and ten pfennig pieces and some
coppers---her whole belongings. We could no longer contain ourselves
and made a collection among ourselves. We got more than ten marks
together which we gave to the young woman. At first she refused
to take it and looked at her husband. Then she took it and wanted
to kiss our hands. We warded her off, and she ran to the nearest
canteen and bought things. Returning with cigars, tobacco, matches,
and sausage, she handed all over to her husband with a radiant
face. She laughed, once again perhaps in a long time, and sent
us grateful looks. The children clung round their father and kissed
him again and again. She accompanied her husband, who carried
two of the kiddies, one on each arm, while his wife carried the
third child. Beaming with happiness the family marched along between
the two landsturm men who had their bayonets fixed. When they
had to take leave, all of them, parents and children began to
weep. She knew that her husband was no longer in constant danger,
and she was happy, for though she had lost much, she still had
her most precious possessions. Thousands of poor men and women
have met such a fate near their homes.

Regular trains left Chatel. We quitted the place at 11 o'clock
at night, heartily glad to leave the Argonnes behind us. We had
to change trains at Vouzières, and took the train to Diedenhofen.
There we saw twelve soldiers with fixed bayonets take along three
Frenchmen. They were elderly men in civilian dress. We had no
idea what it signified, so we entered into a conversation with
one of our fellow travelers. He was a merchant, a Frenchman living
at Vouzières, and spoke German fluently. The merchant was
on a business trip to Sédan, and told us that the three
civilian prisoners were citizens of his town. He said: "We
obtain our means of life from the German military authorities,
but mostly we do not receive enough to live, and the people have
nothing left of their own; all the cattle and food have been commandeered.
Those three men refused to keep on working for the military authorities,
because they could not live on the things they were given. They
were arrested and are now being transported to Germany. Of course,
we don't know what will happen to them."

The man also told us that all the young men had been taken
away by the Germans; all of them had been interned in Germany.

At Sédan we had to wait for five hours; for hospital
trains were constantly arriving. It was 2 o'clock in the afternoon
of the following day when we reached Montmédy, where we
went to the hospital. There all our clothes were disinfected in
the "unlousing establishment," and we could take a proper
bath. We were lodged in the large barracks. There one met people
from all parts of the front, and all of them had only known the
same misery; there was not one among them who did not curse this
war. All of them were glad to be in safety, and all of them tried
their best to be "sick" as long as possible. Each day
we were twice treated with ointment; otherwise we were at liberty
to walk about the place.

One day we paid a visit to the fortress of Montmédy
high up on a hill. Several hundreds of prisoners were just being
fed there. They were standing about in the yard of the fortress
and were eating their soup. One of the prisoners came straight
up to me. I had not noticed him particularly, and recognized him
only when he stood before me. He was the man I had struggled with
on January 5th, and we greeted each other cordially. He had brought
along a prisoner who spoke German well and who interpreted for
us all we had to say to each other. He had seen me standing about
and had recognized me at once. Again and again he told me how
glad he was to be a prisoner. Like myself he was a soldier because
he had to be, and not from choice. At that time we had fought
with each other in blind rage; for a moment we had been deadly
enemies. I felt happy at having stayed my fury at that time, and
again I became aware of the utter idiocy of that barbarous slaughter.
We separated with a firm handshake.

A fortnight I remained at the hospital; then I had to return
to the front. We had been treated well at the hospital, so we
started on our return journey with mixed feelings. As soon as
we arrived at Chatel, the terminus, we heard the incessant gun
fire. It was no use kicking, we had to go into the forest again.
When we reached our old camp, we found that different troops were
occupying it. Our company had left, nobody knew for what destination.
Wherever we asked, nobody could give us any information. So we
had to go back to the command of our corps, the headquarters of
which were at Corney at that time. We left Chatel again by a hospital
train, and reached Corney after half an hour's journey. Corney
harbored the General Staff of the 16th Army Corps, and we thought
they surely ought to know where our company was. General von Mudra
and his officers had taken up their quarters in a large villa.
The house was guarded by three double sentries. We showed our
pay books and hospital certificates, and an orderly led us to
a spacious room. It was the telephone room. There the wires from
all the divisional fronts ran together, and the apparatus were
in constant use. A sergeant-major looked into the lists and upon
the maps. In two minutes he had found our company. He showed us
on the map where it was fighting and where its camp was. "The
camp is at the northern end of Varennes," he said, "and
the company belongs to the 34th division; formerly it was part
of the 33rd. The position it is in is in the villages of Vauquois
and Boureuilles." Then he explained to us on the map the
direction we were to take, and we could trot off. We returned
by rail to Chatel, and went on foot from there to Apremont. We
spent the night in the half destroyed depot of Apremont. In order
to get to Varennes we had to march to the south. On our way we
saw French prisoners mending the roads. Most of them were black
colonial troops in picturesque uniforms. On that road Austrian
motor batteries were posted. Three of those 30.5-cm. howitzers
were standing behind a rocky slope, but did not fire. When at
noon we reached the height of Varennes we saw the whole wide plan
in front of us. Varennes itself was immediately in front of us
in the valley. A little farther up on the heights was Vauquois.
No houses were to be seen; one could only notice a heap of rubbish
through the field glasses. Shells kept exploding in that rubbish
heap continually, and we felt a cold sweat run down our backs
at the thought that the place up there was our destination. We
had scarcely passed the ridge when some shells exploded behind
us. At that place the French were shooting with artillery at individuals.
As long as Vauquois had been in their power they had been able
to survey the whole country, and we comprehended why that heap
of rubbish was so bitterly fought for. We ran down the slope and
found ourselves in Varennes. The southern portion of the village
had been shelled to pieces and gutted. Only most of the chimneys
which were built apart from the bottom upward, had remained standing,
thin blackened forms rising out of the ruins into the air. Everywhere
we saw groups of soldiers collecting the remaining more expensive
metals which were sent to Germany. Among other things church-bells
melted into shapeless lumps were also loaded on wagons and taken
away. All the copper, brass, tin, and lead that could be got was
collected.

.

XXI

IN THE HELL OF VAUQUOIS

WE soon found our company, and our comrades told us what hell
they had gotten into. The next morning our turn came, too. We
had to reach the position before day-break, for as soon as it
got light the French kept all approaches under constant fire.
There was no trace of trenches at Vauquois. All that could be
seen were pieces of stones. Not a stone had literally remained
on the other at Vauquois. That heap of ruins, once a village,
had changed hands no less than fifteen times. When we arrived
half of the place was in the possession of the Germans. But the
French dominated the highest point, whence they could survey the
whole country for many miles around. In the absence of a trench
we sought cover behind stones, for it was absolutely impossible
to construct trenches; the artillery was shooting everything to
pieces.

Thus the soldiers squatted behind piles of stones and fired
as fast as their rifles would allow. Guns of all sizes were bombarding
the village incessantly. There was an army of corpses, Frenchmen
and Germans, all lying about pell-mell. At first we thought that
that terrible state of things was only temporary, but after a
few days we recognized that a slaughter worse than madness was
a continuous state of things at that place. Day and night, ever
the same. With Verdun as a base of operations the French continually
brought up fresh masses of troops. They had carried along a field
railroad the heavy pieces of the neighboring forts of Verdun,
and in the spring of 1915 an offensive of a local, but murderous
kind war, begun. The artillery of both sides bombarded the place
to such an extent that not a foot of ground could be found that
was not torn up by shells. Thousands upon thousands of shells
of all sizes were employed. The bombardment from both sides lasted
three days and three nights, until at last not a soldier, neither
French nor German, was left in the village. Both sides had been
obliged to retreat before the infernal fire of the opponent, for
not a man would have escaped alive out of that inferno. The whole
slope and height were veiled in an impenetrable smoke. In the
evening of the third day the enemy's bombardment died down a little,
and we were ordered to go forward again into the shell torn ruins.
It was not yet quite dark when the French advanced in close order.

We were in possession of almost the whole of the village, and
had placed one machine-gun next to the other. We could see the
projectiles of the artillery burst in great numbers among the
reserves of the attackers. Our machine-guns literally mowed down
the first ranks. Five times the French renewed their attack during
that night, their artillery meanwhile making great gaps in our
ranks. We soldiers calculated that the two sides had together
some three or four thousand men killed in that one night. Next
morning the French eased their attacks, and their guns treated
us again to the accustomed drum fire. We stood it until 10 o'clock
in the morning; then we retreated again without awaiting orders,
leaving innumerable dead men behind. Again the French advanced
in the face of a violent German artillery fire, and effected a
lodgment at the northern edge of the village of Vauquois that
used to be. A few piles of stones was all that still belonged
to us. We managed to put a few stones before us as a protection.
The guns of neither side could hurt us or them, for they, the
enemy, were but ten paces away. But the country behind us was
plowed by projectiles. In face of the machine gun fire it was
found impossible to bring up ammunition.

The sappers undid the coils of rope worn round their bodies,
and three men or more crept back with them. One of them was killed;
the others arrived safely and attached the packets of cartridges
to the rope. Thus we brought up the ammunition by means of a rope
running in a circle, until we had enough or till the rope was
shot through. At three o'clock in the afternoon we attacked again,
but found it impossible to rise from the ground on account of
the hail of bullets. Everybody was shouting, "Sappers to
the front with hand grenades!" Not a sapper stirred. We are
only human, after all.

A sergeant-major of the infantry came creeping up. He looked
as if demented, his eyes were bloodshot. "You're a sapper?"
"Yes," "Advance!" "Alone?" "We're
coming along!" We had to roar at each other in order to make
ourselves understood in the deafening, confounded row. Another
sapper lay beside me. When the sergeant-major saw that he could
do nothing with me he turned to the other fellow. That man motioned
to him to desist, but the sergeant-major got ever more insistent,
until the sapper showed him his dagger, and then our superior
slung his book. Some twenty hand grenades were lying in front
of us. Ten of them I had attached to my belt for all emergencies.
I said to myself that if all of them exploded there would not
be much left of me. I had a lighted cigar in my mouth. I lit one
bomb after the other and threw them over to some Frenchmen who
were working a machine-gun in front of me, behind a heap of stones.
All around me the bullets of the machine-guns were splitting the
stones. I had already thrown four grenades, but all of them had
overshot the mark. I took some stones and threw them to find out
how far I would have to throw in order to hit the fire spitting
machine in front. My aim got more accurate each time until I hit
the barrel of the gun. "If it had only been a hand grenade,"
I thought. An infantryman close to me was shot through the shell
of one ear, half of which was cut in pieces; the blood was streaming
down his neck. I had no more material for bandaging except some
wadding, which I attached to his wound. In my pocket I had a roll
of insulating ribbon, rubber used to insulate wires; with that
I bandaged him. He pointed to the machine-gun. Thereupon I gave
him my cigar, telling him to keep it well alight so as to make
the fuse which I desired to light by it burn well. In quick succession
I threw six hand grenades. I don't know how many of them took
effect, but the rags of uniforms flying about and a demolished
machine-gun said enough. When we advanced later on I observed
three dead men lying round the machine-gun.

That was only one example of the usual, daily occurrences that
happen day and night, again and again and everywhere, and the
immense number of such actions of individual soldiers makes the
enormous loss of human life comprehensible.

We were still lying there without proceeding to the attack.
Again ammunition was brought up by ropes from the rear. A hand
grenade duel ensued; hundreds of hand grenades were thrown by
both sides. Things could not go on long like that; we felt that
something was bound to happen. Without receiving an order and
yet as if by command we all jumped up and advanced with the dagger
in our hands right through the murderous fire, and engaged in
the maddest hand to hand fighting. The daggers, sharp as razors,
were plunged into head after head, chest after chest. One stood
on corpses in order to make other men corpses. New enemies came
running up. One had scarcely finished with one when three more
appeared on the scene.

We, too, got reinforcements. One continued to murder and expected
to be struck down oneself the next moment. One did not care a
cent for one's life, but fought like an animal. I stumbled and
fell on the stones. At that very moment I caught sight of a gigantic
Frenchman before me who was on the point of bringing his sapper's
spade down on me. I moved aside with lightning speed, and the
blow fell upon the stone. In a moment my dagger was in his stomach
more than up to the hilt. He went down with a horrible cry, rolling
in his blood in maddening pain. I put the bloody dagger back in
my boot and took hold of the spade. All around me I beheld new
enemies. The spade I found to be a handy weapon. I hit one opponent
between head and shoulder. The sharp spade half went through the
body; I heard the cracking of the bones that were struck. Another
enemy was close to me. I dropped the spade and took hold of my
dagger again. All happened as in a flash. My opponent struck me
in the face, and the blood came pouring out of my mouth and nose.
We began to wrestle with each other. I had the dagger in my right
hand. We had taken hold of each other round the chest. He was
no stronger than myself, but he held me as firmly as I held him.
We tried to fight each other with our teeth. I had the dagger
in my hand, but could not strike. Who was it to be? He or I? One
of us two was sure to go down. I got the dagger in such a position
that its point rested on his back. Then I pressed his trembling
body still more firmly to myself. He fastened his teeth in my
shaggy beard, and I felt a terrible pain. I pressed him still
more firmly so that his ribs almost began to crack and, summoning
all my strength, I pushed the dagger into the right side of his
back, just below the shoulderblade. In frightful pain he turned
himself round several times, fell on his face, and lay groaning
on the ground. I withdrew my dagger; he bled to death like many
thousands.

We had pushed back the French for some yards when we received
strong assistance. After a short fight the enemy turned and fled,
and we followed him as far as the southern edge of the village.
There the French made a counterattack with fresh bodies of men
and threw us back again for some 50 yards. Then the attack was
halted, and we found ourselves again where we had been at the
beginning of that four days' slaughter. Thousands of corpses were
covering the ruins of Vauquois, all sacrificed in vain.

.

XXII

SENT ON FURLOUGH

FOR four days and nights, without food and sleep, we had been
raging like barbarians, and had spent all our strength. We were
soon relieved. To our astonishment we were relieved by cavalry.
They were Saxon chasseurs on horseback who were to do duty as
infantrymen. It had been found impossible to make good the enormous
losses of the preceding days by sending up men of the depot. So
they had called upon the cavalry who, by the way, were frequently
employed during that time. The soldiers who had been in a life
and death struggle for four days were demoralized to such an extent
that they had no longer any fighting value. We were relieved very
quietly, and could then return to our camp. We did not hear before
the next day that during the period described our company had
suffered a total loss of 49 men. The fate of most of them was
unknown; one did not know whether they were dead or prisoners
or whether they lay wounded in some ambulance station.

The village of Varennes was continually bombarded by French
guns of large size. Several French families were still living
in a part of the village that had not been so badly damaged. Every
day several of the enemy's 28-cm. shells came down in that quarter.
Though many inhabitants had been wounded by the shells the people
could not be induced to leave their houses.

Our quarters were situated near a very steep slope and were
thus protected against artillery fire. They consisted of wooden
shanties built by ourselves. We had brought up furniture from
everywhere and had made ourselves at home; for Varennes was, after
all, nearly two miles behind the front. But all the shanties were
not occupied, for the number of our men diminished from day to
day. At last the longed-for men from the depot arrived. Many new
sapper formations had to be got together for all parts of the
front, and it was therefore impossible to supply the existing
sapper detachments with their regular reserves. Joyfully we greeted
the new arrivals. They were, as was always the case, men of very
different ages; a young boyish volunteer of 17 years would march
next to an old man of the landsturm who had likewise volunteered.
All of them, without any exception, have bitterly repented of
their "free choice" and made no secret of it. "It's
a shame," a comrade told me, "that those seventeen-year-old
children should be led to the slaughter, and that their young
life is being poisoned, as it needs must be in these surroundings;
scarcely out of boyhood, they are being shot down like mad dogs."

It took but a few days for the volunteers ---all of them without
an exception---to repent bitterly of their resolve, and every
soldier who had been in the war for any length of time would reproach
them when they gave expression to their great disappointment.
"But you have come voluntarily," they were told; "we
had to go, else we should have been off long ago." . Yet
we knew that all those young people had been under some influence
and had been given a wrong picture of the war.

Those soldiers who had been in the war from the start who had
not been wounded, but had gone through all the fighting, were
gradually all sent home on furlough for ten days. Though our company
contained but 14 unwounded soldiers it was very hard to obtain
the furlough. We had lost several times the number of men on our
muster-roll, but all our officers were still in good physical
condition.

It was not until September that I managed to obtain furlough
at the request of my relations, and I left for home with a resolve
that at times seemed to me impossible to execute. All went well
until I got to Diedenhofen.

As far as that station the railroads are operated by the army
authorities. At Diedenhofen they are taken over by the Imperial
Railroads of Alsace-Lorraine and the Prusso-Hessian State Railroads.
So I had to change, and got on a train that went to Saarbruecken.
I had scarcely taken a seat in a compartment in my dirty and ragged
uniform when a conductor came along to inspect the tickets. Of
course, I had no ticket; I had only a furlough certificate and
a pass which had been handed to me at the field railroad depot
of Chatel. The conductor looked at the papers and asked me again
for my ticket. I drew his attention to my pass. "That is
only good for the territory of the war operations," he said;
"you are now traveling on a state railroad and have to buy
a ticket."

I told him that I should not buy a ticket, and asked him to
inform the station manager. "You," I told him, "only
act according to instructions. I am not angry with you for asking
of me what I shall do under no circumstances." He went off
and came back with the manager. The latter also inspected my papers
and told me I had to pay for the journey. "I have no means
for that purpose," I told him. For these last three years
I have been in these clothes (I pointed to my uniform), "and
for three years I have therefore been without any income. Whence
am I to get the money to pay for this journey?" "If
you have no money for traveling you can't take furlough."
I thought to myself that if they took me deep into France they
were in conscience bound to take me back to where they had fetched
me. Was I to be a soldier for three years and fight for the Fatherland
for more than a year only to find that now they refused the free
use of their railroads to a ragged soldier? I explained that I
was not going to pay, that I could not save the fare from the
few pfennigs' pay. I refused explicitly to pay a soldier's journey
with my private money, even if---as was the case here---that soldier
was myself. Finally I told him, "I must request you to inform
the military railroad commander; the depot command attends to
soldiers, not you." He sent me a furious look through his
horn spectacles and disappeared. Two civilians were sitting in
the same compartment with me; they thought it an unheard-of thing
that a soldier coming from the front should be asked for his fare.
Presently the depot commander came up with a sergeant. He demanded
to see my furlough certificate, pay books, and all my other papers.

"Have you any money?"

"No."

"Where do you come from?"

"From Chatel in the Argonnes."

"How long were you at the front?

"In the fourteenth month."

"Been wounded?

"No."

"Have you no money at all? "

"No; you don't want money at the front."

"The fare must be paid. If you can't, the company must
pay. Please sign this paper."

I signed it without looking at it. It was all one to me what
I signed, as long as they left me alone. Then the sergeant came
back.

"You can not travel in that compartment; you must also
not converse with travelers. You have to take the first carriage
marked 'Only for the military.' Get into that."

"I see," I observed; "in the dogs' compartment."

He turned round again and said, " Cut out those remarks."

The train started, and I arrived safely home. After the first
hours of meeting all at home again had passed I found myself provided
with faultless underwear and had taken the urgently needed bath.
Once more I could put on the civilian dress I had missed for so
long a time. All of it appeared strange to me. I began to think.
Under no conditions was I going to return to the front. But I
did not know how I should succeed in getting across the frontier.
I could choose between two countries only ---Switzerland and Holland.
It was no use going to Switzerland, for that country was surrounded
by belligerent states, and it needed only a little spark to bring
Switzerland into the war, and then there would be no loophole
for me. There was only the nearest country left for me to choose---Holland.
But how was I to get there? There was the rub. I concocted a thousand
plans and discarded them again. Nobody, not even my relatives,
must know about it.

.

XXIII

THE FLIGHT TO HOLLAND

My furlough soon neared its end; there were only four days
left. I remembered a good old friend in a Rhenish town. My plan
was made. Without my family noticing it I packed a suit, boots,
and all necessities, and told them at home that I was going to
visit my friend. To him I revealed my intentions, and he was ready
to help me in every possible manner.

My furlough was over. I put on my uniform, and my relations
were left in the belief that I was returning to the front. I went,
however, to my friend and changed into civilian clothes. I destroyed
my uniform and arms, throwing the lot into the river near by.
Thus having destroyed all traces, I left and arrived at Cologne
after some criss-cross traveling. Thence I journeyed to Duesseldorf
and stayed at night at an hotel. I had already overstayed my leave
several days. Thousands of thoughts went through my brain. I was
fully aware that I would lose my life if everything did not come
to pass according to the program. I intended to cross the frontier
near Venlo (Holland). I knew, however, that the frontier was closely
guarded.

The country round Venlo, the course of the frontier in those
parts were unknown to me; in fact, I was a complete stranger.
I made another plan. I returned to my friend and told him that
it was absolutely necessary for me to get to know the frontier
district and to procure a map showing the terrain. I also informed
him that I had to get hold of a false identification paper. He
gave me a landsturm certificate which was to identify me in case
of need. In my note-book I drew the exact course of the frontier
from a railway map, and then I departed again.

Dead tired, I reached Crefeld that night by the last train.
I could not go on. So I went into the first hotel and hired a
room. I wrote the name that was on the false paper into the register
and went to sleep. At six o'clock in the morning there was a knock
at my door.

"Who is there?

"The police."

"The police?

"Yes; the political police."

I opened the door.

"Here lives . . . ? (he mentioned the name in which I
had registered).

"Yes."

"Have you any identification papers?"

"If you please," I said, handing him the landsturm
certificate.

"Everything in order; pardon me for having disturbed you."

"You're welcome; you're welcome," I hastened to reply,
and thought how polite the police was.

That well-known leaden weight fell from my chest, but I had
no mind to go to sleep again. Whilst I was dressing I heard him
visit all the guests of the hotel. I had not thought of the customary
inspection of' strangers in frontier towns. It was a good thing
I had been armed for that event.

Without taking breakfast (my appetite had vanished) I went
to the depot and risked traveling to Kempten in spite of the great
number of policemen that were about. I calculated by the map that
the frontier was still some fifteen miles away. I had not much
baggage with me, only a small bag, a raincoat and an umbrella.
I marched along the country road and in five hours I reached the
village of Herongen. To the left of that place was the village
of Niederhofen. Everywhere I saw farmers working in the fields.
They would have to inform me of how the line of the frontier ran
and how it was being watched. In order to procure that information
I selected only those people who, to judge by their appearance,
were no "great lights of the church."

Without arousing suspicion I got to know that the names of
the two places were "Herongen" and "Niederhofen,"
and that a troop of cuirassiers were quartered at Herongen. The
man told me that the soldiers were lodged in the dancing ball
of the Schwarz Inn. Presently I met a man who was cutting a hedge.
He was a Hollander who went home across the frontier every night;
he had a passport. "You are the man for me," I thought
to myself, and said aloud, that I had met several Hollanders in
that part of the country (he was the first one), and gave him
a cigar. I mentioned to him that I had visited an acquaintance
in the Schwarz Inn at Herongen.

"Yes," he said; "they are there."

"But my friend had to go on duty, so I am having a look
round."

"They have got plenty to do near the frontier."

"Indeed? "

"Every thirty minutes and oftener a cavalry patrol, and
every quarter of an hour an infantry patrol go scouting along
the frontier."

"And how does the frontier run?" I queried, offering
him a light for his cigar.

He showed me with his hand.

"Here in front of you, then right through the woods, then
up there; those high steeples towering over the woods belong to
the factories of Venlo."

I knew enough. After a few remarks I left him. All goes according
to my program, I thought. But there was a new undertaking before
me. I had to venture close enough to the frontier to be able to
watch the patrols without being seen by them. That I succeeded
in doing during the following night.

I hid in the thick underwood; open country was in front of
me. I remained at that spot for three days and nights. It rained
and at night it was very chilly, On the evening of the third day
I resolved to execute my plan that night.

Regularly every fifteen minutes a patrol of from three to six
soldiers arrived. When it had got dark I changed my place for
one more to the right, some five hundred yards from the frontier.
I said to myself that I would have to venture out as soon as it
got a little lighter. In the darkness I could not see anything.
It would have to be done in twilight. I had rolled my overcoat
into a bundle to avoid making a noise against the trees. I advanced
just after a patrol had passed. I went forward slowly and stepped
out cautiously without making a noise. Then I walked with ever
increasing rapidity. Suddenly a patrol appeared on my right. The
frontier was about three hundred yards away from me. The patrol
had about two hundred yards to the point of the frontier nearest
to me. Victory would fall to the best and swiftest runner. The
patrol consisted of five men; they fired several times. That did
not bother me. I threw everything away and, summoning all my strength,
I made in huge leaps for the frontier which I passed like a whirlwind.
I ran past the pointed frontier stone and stopped fifty yards
away from it. I was quite out of breath, and an indescribable
happy feeling took hold of me. I felt like crying into the world
that at last I was free.

I seated myself on the stump of a tree and lit a cigar, quite
steadily and slowly; for now I had time. Scarcely fifty yards
away, near the frontier stone, was the disappointed patrol. I
read on the side of the frontier stone facing me, "Koningrjk
der Nederlanden" (Kingdom of the Netherlands). I had to laugh
with joy. "Who are you?" one of the German patrol called
to me. "The Hollanders have now the right to ask that question;
you've got that right no longer, old fellow," I replied.
They called me all manner of names, but that did not excite me.
I asked them: "Why don't you throw me over my bag which I
threw away in the hurry? It contains some washing I took along
with me so as to get into a decent country like a decent man."

Attracted by that conversation, a Dutch patrol, a sergeant
and three men, came up. The sergeant questioned me, and I told
him all. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Be glad
that you are here---wij Hollanders weuschen de vrede (we Hollanders
wish for peace), and you are welcome here in hospitable Holland."

I had to go with the soldiers to their guard-room and take
breakfast with them. Thereupon they showed me the nearest road
to Venlo, where I arrived at seven o'clock in the morning. From
Venlo I traveled to Rotterdam. I soon obtained a well-paid position
and became a man again, a man who could live and not merely exist.
Thousands upon thousands of Belgian refugees are living in Holland
and are treated as the guests of the people. There are also great
numbers of German deserters in Holland, where their number is
estimated to be between fifteen and twenty thousand. Those deserters
enjoy the full protection of the Dutch authorities.

I would have never thought of leaving that hospitable country
with its fairly liberal constitution if the political sky had
not been so overclouded in the month of March, 1916.

.

XXIV

AMERICA AND SAFETY

WHAT I have still to relate does not concern actual war experiences.
But the reader might want to know how I came to America. That
must be done in a few short sentences.

In Holland war was believed to be unavoidable. Again I had
to choose another domicile. After much reflection and making of
plans I decided to go to America.

After having left my place I executed that plan. Some days
after I was informed that the steamer Zyldykof the Holland-American
line was leaving for New York in the night from the 17th to the
18th of March. According to my plan I packed my things in a sailor's
bundle and began the risky game.

I had never been on a sea-going steamer before. The boat was
a small trader. I had found out that the crew had to be on board
by midnight. I had an idea that the men would not turn up earlier
than was necessary. With my sailor's bundle I stood ready on the
pier as early as ten o'clock. All I had packed together in the
excitement consisted of about seven pounds of bread and a tin
containing some ten quarts of water. At midnight the sailors and
stokers of the boat arrived. Most of them were drunk and came
tumbling along with their bundles on their backs. I mixed with
the crowd and tumbled along with them. I reached the deck without
being discovered. I observed next to me a deep black hole with
an iron ladder leading downwards. I threw my bundle down that
hole and climbed after it. All was dark. I groped my way to the
coal bunker. I would have struck a match, but I dared not make
a light. So I crawled onto the coal which filled the space right
up to the ceiling. Pushing my bundle in front of me I made my
way through the coal, filling again the opening behind me with
coal. Having in that manner traversed some thirty yards I came
upon a wall. There I pushed the coal aside so as to have room
to lie down. I turned my back against the outer wall of the boat.

Nobody suspected in the slightest degree that I was on board.
Now the journey can start, I thought to myself. At last the engines
began to work; we were off. After many long hours the engines
stopped. Now we are in England I guessed. Perhaps we were off
Dover or somewhere else; I did not know. Everything was darkness
down there. While the boat was stopping I heard the thunder of
guns close to us. I had no idea what that might mean. I said to
myself, "If the English find me my voyage is ended."
But they did not turn up.

At last we proceeded; I did not know how long we had stopped.
All went well; I scarcely felt the boat move. However, it was
bitterly cold, and I noticed that the cold increased steadily.
Then the weather became rougher and rougher. Days must have passed.
I never knew whether it was day or night. Down in my place it
was always night. I ate bread and drank water. But I had scarcely
eaten when all came up again. Thus my stomach was always empty.

Through the rolling of the boat I was nearly. buried by the
coal. It got worse and worse, and I had to use all my strength
to keep the coal away from me. The big lumps wounded me all about
the head; I felt the blood run over my face. My store of bread
was nearly finished, and the water tasted stale. I lit a match
and saw that the bread was quite black.

I wondered whether we were nearly there. No more bread. I felt
my strength leave me more and more. The boat went up and down,
and I was thrown hither and thither for hours, for days. I felt
I could not stand it much longer. I wondered how long we had been
on the water. I had no idea. I was awfully hungry. Days passed
again. I noticed that I had become quite thin.

At last the engines stopped again. But soon we were off once
more. After long, long hours the boat stopped. I listened. All
was quiet. Then I heard them unloading with cranes.

New York!---After a while I crept forth. I found that half
of the coal had been taken away. Not a soul was there. Then I
climbed down a ladder into the stokehole; nobody was there either.
I noticed a pail and filled it with warm water. With it I hastened
into a dark corner and washed myself. I was terribly tired and
had to hold on to something so as not to collapse. When I had
washed I took my pocket mirror and gazed at my face. My own face
frightened me; for I looked pale as a sheet and like a bundle
of skin and bones. I wondered how long the voyage had lasted.
I had to laugh in spite of my misery ---I had crossed the ocean
and had never seen it!

The problem was now to get on land. What should I say if they
caught me? I thought that if I were caught now I should simply
say I wanted to get to Holland as a stowaway in order to reach
Germany. In that case, I thought, they would quickly enough put
me back on land. With firm resolve I climbed on deck which was
full of workmen.

I noticed a stair-way leading to the warehouse. Gathering all
my strength I loitered up to it in a careless way and---two minutes
later I had landed. I found myself in the street outside the warehouse.,

Up to that time I had kept on my legs. But now my strength
left me, and I dropped on the nearest steps.

It was only then that I became aware of the fact that I was
not in New York, but in Philadelphia. It was 5 o'clock in the
afternoon of April 5th, 1916. 1 had reckoned on twelve days and
the voyage had taken eighteen.

Physically a wreck, I became acquainted with native Americans
in the evening. They afforded me every assistance that one human
being can give to another. One of those most noble-minded humanitarians
took me to New York. I could not leave my room for a week on account
of the hardships I had undergone; I recovered only slowly.

But to-day I have recovered sufficiently to take up again in
the ranks of the American Socialists the fight against capitalism
the extirpation of which must be the aim of every class-conscious
worker. A relentless struggle to the bitter end is necessary to
show the ruling war provoking capitalist caste who is the stronger,
so that it no longer may be in the power of that class to provoke
such a murderous war as that in which the working-class of Europe
is now bleeding to death.